The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Atlanta Hawks 118-107 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at State Farm Arena on Saturday, winning the series 4-2 and making the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sustained a hyperextended left knee in Game 4, continued to sit on the road game on Saturday. The Bucks were leading 3-2 and would have one last home game even if they lost – they had no reason to risk the health of their box office insurance for at least five years in the future.

The Hawks were better prepared defensively this time than they were in Game 5. Instead of watching the opponents act willfully under the rim, they even grabbed one more offensive rebound (13-12) than the Bucks and matched them in points in the paint (40-40). Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis, who had everything they wanted in G5, went combined 3-4 in the paint on Saturday.

Offensively the Bucks were not as focused as they used to be either. The team committed a total of 11 turnovers, all from Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, the two main ball handlers of the team. Their 3-point shooting was problematic too in the first half (5-19).

However, the Hawks' side was not doing much better on offense. Trae Young deserved applause for returning to the floor carrying sprained right ankle, but the injury hurt his explosiveness so much that Young lacked the desire to penetrate from the 3-point line even when he was facing Lopez or Portis.

Young was only 2-8 on the field to get five points in the first half. He delivered two assists but also committed three turnovers – lacking individual attack made his game more predictable for defenders.

The Hawks lacked consistency with their scoring in the first half and therefore trailed 47-43 in spite of the Bucks' underperformance on offense.

Both sides needed an explosive game to break the boring stalemate. Middleton in the third quarter provided that to the Bucks. In less than three minutes between 11:12 and 8:23, Middleton drained five jumpers, including three triples, one layup and one free throw to get 16 points. Most of those shots were not smart shooting choices but that's Middleton's game – he could suddenly grow boiling hot with no sign at all.

Such unreasonable scoring performance of his drove a 19-7 run for the Bucks. After Middleton put down 23 points in Q3 alone, the Bucks already led by 19 (91-72).

The Hawks launched desperate counterstrike in Q4. Slowly but surely, they were catching up, point by point. When Bogdan Bogdanovic buried his last 3-pointer, the Hawks only trailed by seven (110-103) and they saw the last glimmer of hope.

Then P.J. Tucker, who went 0-6 in corner threes, drain his first and only triple from the left corner and killed the last chance the Hawks had.

It must be rough for the Hawks to watch their opponents celebrate with the Conference championship trophy at home, State Farm Arena, but the Hawks already did way better than most had expected coming all this way to the Eastern Finals and losing in six games.

Trae Young could be rated 95 out of 100 for his performance in his playoff debut. Now many should rethink when asked to compare him with Luka Doncic. Both of the young rivalry pair have what it takes to carve their names onto the coming new era of the NBA.

The Bucks definitely deserved the win not only because of the incredible game of Middleton. Jrue Holiday was one assist and one rebound away from a triple-double (27+9+9). Jeff Teague, Pat Connaughton and Bryn Forbes together made seven triples off the bench. The Bucks will need them to repeat such performance against the Suns if they want to make it further in this journey.

Now the question for them is, when will Antetokounmpo come back in the Finals that will start on July 6 at Phoenix Suns Arena?